The team had a dominating 58-20 win against Poolesville on Dec. 8.
Sophomore Nathan Bowman started off the game playing frustrating defense to the opponent. He had 10 early points in the first quarter coming off of easy steals. Sophomore guards Miller Romm and Jayden Rowe helped out with pushing the tempo on offense, resulting in easy layups and open jump-shots. “We had good energy starting the game and were able to outrun Poolesville on offense,” Bowman said.
Coming off the bench early were guards, sophomore Thomas Jezek and freshman Ryan Parent. Jezek came into the game and had an immediate impact, scoring nine points in the first half. Romm led the team with 11 points and five assists. Rowe and sophomore guard Chris Rinaldi both contributed with each of them racking up nine points. Rinaldi also made big impacts with his athleticism on defense and on rebounding. “We did a really good job pulling away in the first half as we outscored them by 38 points,” Rinaldi said.
Sophomore forward Ryan Feldman’s strength was too much for the opposition to handle. Nobody on Poolesville could match up with Feldman’s combination of size and strength. Feldman and Bowman were able to control the boards whenever either of them were in the game. Both of them had success grabbing the defensive rebound and throwing the ball up the court to a guard for easy layups. Feldman and Bowman combined for a total of 18 rebounds in the game. “We had mismatches inside and that made it easy for us to grab the rebounds,” Feldman said.
Six returning players from last year’s team are what makes this team’s leadership so strong. These players look to teach the freshmen what is right and wrong. They all know that the team’s success relies on their shoulders. The freshmen have responded highly to the experience of the sophomores, as they are filling the roles needed. “Our job is to take control of this team and make sure that everyone is on the same page,” Rowe said.
The team had a devastating loss on Dec. 14 against rival Churchill, falling by two points. The team had a game on Dec. 18 against Sherwood and will have a game at home, today against Blake.
The team lost two players from last year who decided to focus on other sports. Sophomores Ethan Chelf and Matthew Koplan. Chelf brought length and athleticism on defense with the ability to shoot on offense.
